Welcome to Cabarette's Magic Show
by 13AMinwonderland
Summary: It is Cabarette Lyanne Gaunt's fourth year in Hogwarts when her dark mark starts to burn. Her father, Voldemort, is returning. Who will she turn to in this time of peril? The answer is quite simple. The man who raised her from birth. Severus Snape.
1. Prelude

There once was a girl named Cabarette, okay, maybe once isn't the correct term, as she's still alive. I'd know because, well...she's me. This is the story of my life...or should I say this is the story from when I first started to feel alive.

It was years ago, when my parents died. Their love is a bittersweet story. My mother, young, beautiful, and very foolish, looked past the flaws of a certain man with a rather charming smile. The sort of smile that, when directed at you, made you forget your name. This man was Tom Riddle, and he thought himself better than every other person.

My mother certainly seemed to see something in him, but she was, as I've said, young, full of innocence, not aware of how cruel the world was. She fell in love. With a man who had, long ago, died inside; every, loving word, kind gesture was a lie. He was master of using people and he wanted an heir. As soon as she was with child, mission accomplished, he moved on to his next wicked plan, leaving her confused, afraid and very alone.

Locked up in her room, she brewed many aborting potions. She was never able to take them, of course, she couldn't find it in herself to destroy anything that had to do with Tom, especially his baby, so I lived.

It was a dark, stormy night that I was born. My mother didn't even get to hold me. Tom showed up and killed her, let me take you back to that night with a memory that I have acquired over the years.

July 13th 1980

"Sprite...SPRITE!" Severus Snape's voice was urgent; Sprite was pale and unconscious on the bed. She'd barley had enough strength to make it through the delivery. The healer he'd called when Sprite had gone into labor was with the baby. It was still breathing, but it hadn't cried yet. "Sprite..." He placed his hand on her forehead, she was burning up, "Sprite, open your eyes... Don't you want to see your baby? It's a girl. Look at her, she's beautiful." Her eyes cracked open. She looked at Severus,

"Sev...S..." Her voice was weak and he had to strain to hear her, "Sev..."

"Yes, Sprite, I'm here." She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. There was a blinding flash of green light and Sprite Saffron never spoke again.

Voldemort was cackling madly, nearly beside himself, staring at his new baby girl. Severus glanced at the door. The healer, eyes glazed over, unseeing. He watched as Voldemort walked over and picked up the infant. The baby girl opened her eyes; seeing the man holding her, her little bottom lip began to tremble and she let out a high pitched wail.

A look of revolution immediately spread across Voldemort's face. He held the baby in outstretched arms and looked around,

"Ah, Snape. Take it." Severus obeyed, taking the little girl gently. She stopped crying and with curious eyes she looked up at the new man. Her tiny lips were parted and Severus could hear her breathing. She reached up and grabbed at Severus' rather large nose. She seemed to enjoy it because she began to giggle delightedly.

That was the last time I was near my dad. He'd given Severus Snape orders to raise me until I became old enough to become a Death Eater. A year after that finds me with Severus once more, but this time, he was a different man.

They were in Hogsmeade, walking up to the school. Tears silently leaking from his eyes,

"Cabby...not now." Severus looked at the baby bundled in his robes, she was giggling, reaching for his nose. She had turned out to be a child who rarely cried, it was the laughing he had trouble with, she never seemed to stop. But she stopped now and just stared up at him.

He was halfway across the grassy slopes when he saw Albus Dumbledore.

"Severus. What a surprise to see you here again." Snape gave a great sniff and fell to the Headmaster's feet.

"He... he's going to go after Lily. For her son. Please...protect her. I'll do anything." Dumbledore let out a heavy sigh and, eying the baby, whose nose had gone pink from breathing in the cold night air, put a hand on Snape's shaking shoulder.

"Come inside. We will talk."

And talk they did, apparently, because from that night on, Hogwarts was my home. During the summer every few weeks a different teacher would come and stay in the castle to watch over me. Professor Dumbledore was usually always there but rarely showed himself. And during school time, well the older kids just got used to having a little kid running all around the castle.

From the moment I could walk, I was always sneaking into classrooms. I loved to learn. When I wasn't doing that I was following Hagrid around the grounds as he did his gamekeeper duties. When I was able to talk I was constantly begging him to take me into the Forbidden Forest. It was so dark and full of mystery, secrets that I wanted to discover. He always said no, muttering stuff like 'too young', 'too dangerous'.

Anyway, that's how I came to be where I am now, which is in my fourth year at Hogwarts.


	2. The Dark Mark

I glared at the blond boy on my left. _I can't believe I'm going to the Yule Ball with_...I shuddered..._with Draco Malfoy_. He had that conceded smirk on his face, with me on his arm, like some sort of prize. But nobody knew, he'd had to beg to get me to say yes. As we entered the Great Hall the champions had already started their dance. Draco sighed, I looked at him in time to see a flicker of irritation cross his face. He was glaring at the opposite side of the Hall, "How did Crabbe and Goyle get all the way over there?" He grabbed my arm a little more firmly, "C'mon." He tried to pull me towards his friends, but I jerked my arm away. "You go. I'm going to watch my friends dance." I pushed my way to the front of the crowd next to Ron. He was gaping at Victor Krum...oh no, wait! That's Hermione with him! "Oh, she looks beautiful." I heard a few huffs and puffs from Ron's direction. I looked at him just in time to see him stalk off, his ears bright red. Rolling my eyes, I turned and followed him. He stopped at a table and sat down. I took a seat as well,"You're such a git!" I told him, "You know she wanted you to ask her." He looked as though he was going to be sick. He opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment Harry sat down next to him, crossed his arms and glared glumly at the table, occasionally casting moody glances at Cho. I scowled at them, both were glaring at everything, "You two!" I stood suddenly, my snow white cloak swaying around my ankles, "You're ruining this night!" "Ruining it?" Ron said as he gazed at me, "It's already boring, there's nothing to ruin." The anger on my face was replaced with wonder as I had a sudden thought. I turned and glanced at the Weird Sister's on the stage. They were having a small break between songs. I felt an evil grin spread upon my face as I hurried towards the stage, hands groping to the pockets of my cloak. I slipped onto the stage, unnoticed by most. Students were chatting amongst themselves, leaving for drinks or searching for a table. I stopped in front of the jumble of cords and, delightfully, took hold of the correct one. I looked around once more before plugging in my ordinary muggle IPod, the most precious item I owned.

It took only a few seconds for the sounds to come out of the speakers and everyone in the room turned to stare at me. For a second, I froze. The sight of so many eyes on me filled me with a sense of stage fright, but the familiar beat seemed to trigger something in my brain and my eyes closed. With a few deep breathes, my body started to sway sensually in time with the music. I danced to the middle of the stage, swirled my cloak around and flung it off. I planned this out for a dramatic effect to reveal my dress. I heard an intake of breath then an applause and wooting broke out. Motivating me more, the words began to flow out of my mouth as soon as I heard the singer's beautiful voice come out of the speakers.

I felt my shoulders slowly start to shake as I pointed to the one man I knew would be the most uncomfortable-Snape.

A sudden realization and extreme disapproval dawned on his face.

"_You knock me off of my feet now, baby!_" And with a running start, I leaped off the stage, "_Whooooooooo!_" People backed away slightly, giving me room to land. I had to stand on my tippy-toes to see over everyone in order to find the man I intended to dance with, who was slowly backing towards the doors. A sly grin formed on my face as I shimmed and skipped through the crowd to reach the now horrified Snape. I beckoned him with my finger, "_Whoo! C'mon, girl!_" His eyes widened and he turned, trying to run away, but I reached out, grabbed his hand, and spun him around to face me.

"_Hey, pretty baby with the high heels on. You give me fever like I've never, ever known!_" I danced around him, then grabbed his hands again and swung around. When I opened my mouth to sing once more, he leaned close to me,

"Enough." He gripped my wrist and pulled me out of the Great Hall. It was empty, so he stopped and turned to look at me, "What are you doing!" I squinted my eyes at him,

"I'm standing here, Professor. You're the one that dragged us out here." He pursed his lips and sighed,

"I meant in there. What was that?" I pouted my lips slightly and tried to make my eyes as big and innocent as I could, "I just wanted to dance with my favorite teacher, Professor." He looked at me strangely,

"Ah." I smiled at him,

"Yes, it _is_ a ball, sir." I took a step towards the door, "So, if we're done here…" I turned and ran back into the Great Hall. I wasn't surprised to hear that Michael Jackson was still playing and people were dancing. I smiled to myself, muggle or not, he's amazing. Fred and George, who were red in the face from laughing at Snape's misfortune, stumbled over to me,

"Cabby! That was amazing!" I grinned at them. "Did you see his face-" George cut Fred off,

"Terrified!" He snorted.

"Don't think a girl's ever been that close to him before!" I forced a laugh, that wasn't exactly the nicest thing to say in the world.

"Hah…yeah." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Draco marching angrily towards us, "Oh… C'mon George, dance with me!" I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the dance floor. I glanced back over at Draco, who looked like he was about to throw a temper tantrum. I smiled, proud of my work. George twirled and spun me across the floor, the whole time, there were butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. When the song was over, George grabbed my hand and gave it a small kiss. Then he took me over to the table where Harry and Ron sat. He had bowed like a gentlemen then gave me a goofy grin before returning to his twin. I gave my two best friends a disapproving look,

"It's not the dance that's boring! It's you two!" I sighed and was just about to sit down between them, when I saw Draco a few tables away, with his back towards us. Without waiting to see if he ever noticed I was there, I quickly left the Great Hall where, minutes earlier, Professor Snape had escorted me out. _Snape!_ I glanced around as I left, he hadn't come back inside. Almost, without thinking, I descended the stone steps to the dungeons.

I made my way to the potions classroom, although, I hesitated just outside the door. But only for moment. I opened the door and peaked my head inside. Surely enough, Snape was sitting at his desk, nonchalantly grading papers.

He didn't look at me as I walked inside, even when I dragged a stool noisily over to his desk and sat next to him. I sighed loudly when he did nothing to acknowledge my presence.

"I'm sorry." I said, fiddling with my hands. He set down his black quill feathered pen and pinched the bridge of his nose, seeming quite annoyed when he realized I wanted to talk. He took a moment before saying,

"You shouldn't be. You're right. It's a dance, and dancing is what people tend to do at dances. So, you've no reason to apologize." He didn't look at me as he spoke and when he was finished, he picked up his pen again and continued to grade first years' papers. I watched as he read the essay on how to brew a basic potion. All the spelling errors and grammar mistakes made me cringe.

I watched him cross out certain steps of the potions and write down what they were suppose to put. Not really caring about anything else. I just…stared. His brow was slightly creased in concentration and his eyes were darting back and forth as quickly as he read.

Suddenly, a searing pain erupted on my forearm, as if someone had dumped boiling water all over it. I gasped loudly and Snape's eyes stopped moving as he clenched his jaw muscles. He slowly turned his head towards me, but only a about fraction of an inch. He reached down, took my arm and placed it on his desk, palm up. Very hesitantly, he ran his fingers over the bandages that covered the skin from my wrist to my elbow. Slowly and gently, he unwrapped my arm. Revealing a tattoo of a snake erupting from a skull's mouth. Burning darker than ever on my pale skin.


	3. The Cry from the Broom Cupboard

I gulped and stared at the mark fearfully. It had never hurt before, not until a few months ago. I whimpered quietly as another tinge of pain came over my arm,

"Professor… why does it hurt?"

"Cabby…" I turned to Snape with wide eyes. Never in the history of my memory has he ever called me by my first name. His voice, usually full of menace or some other unpleasant emotion, was gentle, soft, and understanding. "I believe it means that he is regaining strength…" An icy wave of pain swept over me and I was silent for a moment before whispering,

"I'm scared." Almost as I said those two words, fear quickly spread throughout my entire body. Before I knew what I was doing, I flung myself forward and threw my arms around Snape's neck tightly, burying my face in his chest. His entire body went rigid, but I didn't pull back because I needed to know that I wasn't alone.

A moment passed and I felt a hesitant hand pat my head awkwardly. It reminded me of something… a thought that was slightly funny broke through the despair in my mind. 'Don't think a girl's ever been that close to him before.' I snorted into Snape's shoulder before releasing him and nearly fell off my stool.

I tried to hide my snickering behind my hand. He stared at me with wide, confused eyes. Which made me burst into fits of outrageous laughter that echoed throughout the stone room.

Shaking his head softly, he turned back to his papers. Setting aside the bandage from my arm, he picked up his quill and continued working as if I wasn't there. By the time I settled down and caught my breath, I was laying on my back, sprawled across the cold floor. I hopped to my feet, grabbed my bandage from his desk, and began to wrap my arm up.

"Well, that was cheerful," I said grinning cheekily. Suddenly, feeling much better, I continued, "At least I can still laugh. Makes it seem like things will be alright, yeah?"

Turning on my heel, I walked to the door. I hadn't quite reached it yet when he spoke. His voice, trembling slightly, was hesitant and choppy,

"If… if you find yourself unable to laugh… don't hesitate to find me." He was looking anywhere but at me and had gone slightly pale.

"Thank you, sir." I whispered as I exited the potions classroom. I hurried back upstairs and slipped inside the Great Hall. The Weird Sisters were back on stage. So, I took my wand out of my gown, "Accio IPod." It soared through the air, over everyone's heads. I snatched it before it fell to the ground. I made my way through the tables and the clusters of people, back to where Harry and Ron had been sitting. Unfortunately, they weren't there.

"Ugh!" I kicked the chair that Harry was occupying when I had last saw him, then it thudded to the ground. I glared at it as I kicked it under the table.

Knowing that they wouldn't be in the crowds of people dancing, I moved for the exit for the third time that night. I was almost out of the castle when I heard someone sob, I looked for the source of the noise. I didn't see anything but a broom cupboard. There was another sob,

'Oh my god!' I thought to myself, 'Someone's in there...crying!' I hesitated, but my love of people overcame my fear of sobbing people crying all over me. I hurried to the door and flung it open.

"Hermione!" I gasped. I threw myself into the small dark room and wrapped my arms around her shaking shoulders, "What's wrong?"

Instead of speaking, she dissolved into noisy tears and clung to me. "Shh. Sshhh, it's alright." I told her as I rubbed her back soothingly. It took her a minute, but her hysterics dwindled down to sad hiccups and sniffs. She pulled away from me, rubbing her puffy, red eyes.

"What's wrong?" I whispered. Tears welled up in her eyes again, but she didn't break down. She gave a great sniff and said,

"R-Ron...he was...mad that I was with Victor. He...He said that I was fraternizing with the enemy." I rolled my eyes,

"Of course he said that." My tone was bitter but I couldn't help it, "He's jealous, Hermione. How many times am I going to have to tell you that he fancies you before you start to believe me, huh?" She was shaking her head before I had even finished talking,

"Again with that theory of yours. I've told you. He doesn't like me like that."

"And I've told you that he does. So there." She kept quiet, probably knowing that there was no use in arguing with me. So I stood, helped her up and led her out of the broom cupboard.

"Now. You are going to go back in there and have a good time with Victor. You leave Ron to me." She glanced over her shoulder suspiciously as I pushed her towards the big doors that led to the Great Hall,

"What are you going to do him?" She asked.

"Oh...nothing too painful." Before she could say anything else, I gave her one final shove and quickly skirted away and slipped though the doors that led outside. I came face to face, well maybe not face to face, as he's taller than me, but anyway; Snape was right outside the door. I glanced around. Karkaroff was behind him. I found that that odd. They aren't exactly best friends...what are they doing spending the Yule Ball together?

And then I remembered something Harry had told us. Karkaroff was a death eater. Well now that made sense. I offered him a small smile before sidestepping out of his way and continuing past them.

I glanced down at the bushes, they were glowing with real live fairies. I stared down at the light, I couldn't help but feel like I was forgetting something. Then it hit me.

"oh my god! How could I have forgotten?" Spinning on my heel I turned and ran, passed Snape and Karkaroff who had barely moved, back inside and up two flights of stairs. I skid to a halt outside Moaning Myrtles bathroom. Leaning against the door, I tried to catch my breath. I turned the handle and stumbled into the lavatory. Being careful no to make any noise that would attract the weeping ghost, I tiptoed over to the sinks. I found the minute carving of a serpent,

"Open." I hissed softly.

With a grating sound, the sinks expanded to reveal a large hole in the floor. Without waiting for the sinks to come to a halt, I moved past them and leaped into the opening.

Two years ago, the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets had been dark and grimy, but I'd put a lot of time into making it...nice.

The big pipe that had been slippery with slime was now clean and smooth and sometimes quite fun. Dim lights lined the top of the pipe so that it wasn't pitch dark. It only took a few seconds before I reached the bottom. The stone floor that had one been littered with animal bones and large bits of snake skin was now clean and lit by orbs of light. A velvet red carpet led the way to a large door.

"Move!" I hissed impatiently. Snakes slithered out of the way and the door shifted open.


	4. The Memories of Monti

I leaped inside only to be tackled to the ground by a large blue and pink scaly dragon.

_October 23, 1989_

_**It wasn't until I was nine that I decided I was old enough to go into the Forbidden Forest. I went into the Forest a week before Halloween, while Hagrid was setting up the huge jack-o-lanterns in the castle.**_

_Young Cabby pulled her cloak tight around herself as the wind whipped at her face. She glanced back towards the castle to make sure no one could see her before she darted into the vast darkness of the trees. It wasn't nighttime, but the trees blocked out the afternoon sunlight._

_She walked slowly through the gloomy shrubs, careful of any roots waiting to trip her. It was quiet, not in an eerie way, but a peaceful kind of quiet that gave her a feeling that reassured her that the forest would not bring any harm to her, as long as she brought no harm to it. She stood, gazing around. She was about to continue walking when she heard something, a crunch of the dead leavesthat littered the ground. _

_Her body froze. Someone, something was close. There was another crunch. Her eyes darted wildly, looking for any sign of movement in her inky surroundings. _

"_Hello?" Her little voice echoed as she called out. There was a sudden, louder crunch right behind her. She twirled around and came face to face with a scaly, sky blue, red-eyed...dragon? Gasping loudly, she leap back, suddenly, her foot caught on a knarly root and she fell to the ground. _

_She sat back up and stared at the create with wide eyes, getting ready to run, if need be, when she noticed that the dragon had backed away. He was cowering on all fours like a small puppy who had done something wrong. Cabby stumbled to her feet, never taking her eyes off him. He was blue. Lighter shades in the face, the scales got darker farther down on his body. His belly was a salmon pink and his blood-red eyes gleamed as her eyed her._

"_Hello..." She whispered, stumbling, slightly hesitant. Not sure if dragons could understand, but his ears perched up and he took a slow step towards her. She looked at him curiously before patting her thigh, "C'mere, boy."_

_His eyes seemed to light up as he trotted over to her._

"Ooof! Monti!" I giggled as he licked my face, "I missed you too! But get off! It's only been a few hours." He let out a whining noise and flapped his wings furiously to lift himself off. I got to my feet and brushed my dress off. Monti scrambled forward instantly to sniff me.

"I don't have any treats for you, baby. I didn't have time to stop by the kitchens." I said as I walked into the chamber and over the corner where a large muggle cooler sat. Monti was hopping up and down excitedly, his tail was wagging around him.

"Geeze. You act like I've never fed you before." I opened the box and grabbed big handfuls of meat. I tossed it into a bowl and Monti began chomping away. I stroked his shiny tail before plopping down in the bright blue bean bag chair.

"You'll never believe my luck!" I told him. He stopped eating for a second to look at me, "Remember when I was all bummed that I gave in to Malfoy? Well, I actually got away from him, but it was kind of weird. Snape dragged me away when I was...well, I guess it's my fault. I was dancing a little bit too close to his personal bubble. You should have seen his face!" I broke off giggling, but just then for the second time that night, pain jolted through my arm. I gasped loudly, making Monti look up from his food bowl. When he saw me clutching my arm, he jumped over to me and nuzzled his nose against my shoulder.

"It's nothing, baby. It doesn't hurt. It just shocked me." I lied. He made a whining noise and gently used his teeth to tug on the bandage that wrapped around my arm. I sighed, and took it off for him. He sniffed before he started to lick me.

"Eww! Monti tongue is all...wet." Monti stopped licking me and went back to his food bowl finishing what was left. I laid down on the bean bag and sighed. I had never met my father before. Well, not that I remember, but I never wanted to meet him considering who he was and what he's done. If he rose to power again, what would I do? Snape couldn't protect me forever. I patted the floor for a minute for my bandage. I was too comfy to get up and get it. After another minute of patting I forced myself up. I looked around the room to finally notice that Monti and my bandage were both gone.

"Ohh, Jesus, Monti!" I whined, "Where are you?" I searched for the evil little dragon until I heard little feet trotting away in a close distance. I turned around to see the statue of Salazar Slytherin, who I had enchanted to wear a wig and a cocktail dress. Monti was sitting comfortably on top his head, my bandage dangling from his mouth. I glared,

"So you're playing take and hide, huh? Fine! I'm going to bed after this!" I yelled up at him. A smirk formed on his scaly face and he disappeared again. I laughed and began to search again. I heard him running all over the place but always looked to late. I was starting to get really fired until I saw a little blue dragon tail hiding behind one of the very colorful bean bags. I smirked and tackled Monti to the ground, but this didn't feel like Monti. It was soft and squishy. It was my damn stuffed dragon Harry had gotten me for my birthday two years ago. _Shoot! _I heard a light growl-like chuckle behind me. I flipped around and grabbed Monti into a hug.

"You little monster!" I grinned as I snuggled into Monti's big snout, "You put that there!" He made a cooing noise, licked my face and sat down my bandage. I sat back on the bean bag and began to wrap my arm back up. I tightened the wrap the best I could and rested my head, debating if I should go to my dorm or stay in here with Monti.

I closed my eyes and thought about it more. _I do need clean clothes and my books. Better go to my dorm. _I cracked my back and got up. Monti was already coiled into a ball, in his little bed, soundly asleep. I quietly walked over to him and kissed his head,

"Night, sweet boy." His eyes twitched, then settled again into a peaceful state. I grabbed my cloak and headed to the dorms.

I was half way to my room when I had heard someone clear their throat being me. I felt a shiver run down my spine and a cold sweat break out on my face. At first, I thought it was Dumbledore until a pair of hands slowly started rubbing my shoulders,

"'ello, purdy girly." The man's voice hissed in my ear, seductively. I spun around and stared in terror. I gasped loudly to see Karkorff.


	5. The Midnight Attack

Karkaroff had always creeped me out, but I never really had a reason before now. His bloodshot eyes were gazing hungrily up and down my body. I let out a shaky breath and his eyes snapped to my face, it took a second for him to focus.

_Oh great, _I thought. He was drunk. I slowly took a step back, I wasn't to far from the common room. Maybe I could out run him. I glanced around the empty corridor. It was dark, the Yule Ball was over. Everyone was probably already in bed. He let out a growl and advanced on me. Grabbing my waist he pulled me close to him despite my flailing arms.

I let out shriek that was cut off by his fire whiskey, tainted lips. I tried to turn my face away, but his rough hand forced my chin back, holding my face still. His other hand was creeping down, passed the curve of my lower back. I closed my eyes tight and tried not to feel this awful feeling. Not his roaming hands, not his wiry goatee on my face, not his overwhelming stench of fire whiskey and some type of smoky scent that I couldn't focus enough to remember the name.

And suddenly, in a blindly blaze of white light, he was gone, blasted off of his feet. His body landed in a heap, looking crumpled on the floor. At first, he looked dead, until he let out a loud groan and attempted to get up. Before I regained my composure, I felt someone push me behind them. I felt one hand grip me tightly on my arm. The other hand was holding out their wand protectively. I burrowed my head into the mystery person's shoulder and tried to hold back my tears.

"Leave Karkaroff!" I gasped, but it came out sounding like a sob. It was Snape! I gripped his shoulder tightly and peeked around. Karkaroff was slumped to the ground. Snape glanced down at me, he was livid. The muscle his jaw was twitching and his black eyes were sparking with rage. Yet when he looked down at me, they softened the slightest bit,

"Hurry up to your common room, Cabby." He said softly. Almost before he finished his sentence, I was shaking my head frantically. I gripped him tighter,

"Don't you dare leave me alone." I whispered. All signs of fury dissolved from his face. Without another glance at the unconscious man, he nodded curtly. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me away, down the corridor. It was dark and tears were silently beginning to make their way down my cheeks.

Before I knew it, we were in his office. He looked down at me and flinched when he saw that I was crying. He bit his lip and hesitated for a moment, wringing his hands together before he slowly raised to my face and used his thumbs to rub the tears away. He pulled me to him and hugged me tight.

_August 18, 1984_

_The only sounds in the corridor were the soft pats of the little girls bare feet as she __descended_ _the stone steps. She didn't even like the dungeons during the daytime. _

_The only sign of fear was that her small legs were moving faster in order to get her to her destination quicker. She reached a door and __groped_ _blindly in the dark for the handle. _

_A quiet growl emitted from between her bared teeth when she couldn't find it. She stumbled backwards in surprise when the door opened and __Severus Snape__ glanced down at the baby girl with wide eyes. Her worried face __broke_ _into a big __smile_ _when she __was __that it wasn't a ghost. She lifted her arms up and tugged on his night shirt, demanding to be picked up._

_Instead of obliging, he asked sternly,_

"_What are you doing out of bed?" _

"_I don't wanna be alone." She whined. Her tugging became more urgent. He sighed and made a mental note to grow a __backbone __and learn how to say no to that adorable face. He scooped her up into his arms and said,_

"_Just this once."_

My eyes were closed and I was inhaling deeply the delicious scent of slightly burnt herbs...or something that reminded me of potions class.

I was gripping tight to something warm and comfortable. In my sleepy haze, I felt that if I let go, I'd fly away into nothing. I held on tighter, but whatever it was moved and tried to make me let go.

"No..." I mumbled, "No." I pried my eyes open.

Black. I looked up to see Professor Snape's face. His uncomfortable expression was covered by a pink tint that was spread across his usually pale cheeks. And not without good reason. As my conscious cleared I realized that I was sprawled across his lap. Very slowly, I sat up and carefully crawled to the other side of the black couch that had appeared in his office.

He cleared his throat as I sat straight, hands folded in my lap,

"You...passed out." As he explained, I nodded that I understood, "I conjured this..." He patted his hand lightly on the couch, "I tried to wake you, but you just mumbled about not being alone...you asked me to stay...I stayed." He looked at me expectant. I felt very much like a teacher and he was explaining why he hadn't done his homework. This all felt very awkward to me. I nodded,

"Thank you." I glanced at the clock on the wall opposite his desk, 4:28 AM, "Have you slept?" I asked, looking back at him. His eyes flashed and his jaw tightened, '

"I haven't. I took the liberty of informing Professor Dumbledore about Karkaroff's behavior." I smiled happily.

"Dumblydore?" Many months ago, when the other schools arrived, I first heard Madame Maxime and her heavy accent butcher the elderly Professor's name, I had instantly become very fond of the nickname. I've used it ever since when I spoke of the headmaster. All signs of anger were replaced with a smile, he chuckled softly.

That was the first time I ever saw him laugh. He seemed to realize what he was doing, because he stopped instantly. Not wanting to silence to become acquired, I spoke.

"Is he going to do anything about it?"

"Well, it is Dumbldore. So I'm assuming that, yes, he will be tending to Karkaroff." I nodded as he spoke.

"I never thought that a teacher could do something like that." I swallowed hard as memories from hours before flooded into my mind. His stench, the feel of his hands, "Thank you for saving me." I said softly. Before he could say anything else, I stood, stretched and yawned. "I'll let you get some sleep." I told him as I walked to the door, but stopped before I exited, "I guess I'll see you in class." I smiled at him before beginning the tedious journey through the creepy dungeons that I've always hated.


	6. The Morning Desert

I walked quickly through the castle until I reached the portrait of the fat lady. I had to shout to wake her up before she swung open and let me in. I raced upstairs to the girls dorm, I tiptoed to Hermione's bed,"Psst!" I poked the lump under the blankets, "Psst!" She didn't wake up. I sighed in exasperation. I smacked her arm and shouted loudly, "Hey!" She woke up screaming and toppled out of bed. "Shh!" I hopped over the bed and tried to calm her as she untangled herself from the bed covers. "Stop being an idiot!" I said. I wrenched the blanket away from her, "It's me!" She glared,"Where have you been? I waited up for you and when you didn't come, I thought Malfoy had stolen you or something!" "Oh, please." I laughed, "I lost track of the ferret boy five minutes into the ball. But forget about that. Do you want to hear what's happened to me or not?" She nodded eagerly and urged me to speak. I launched into everything that had happened to me since I left her side, minutes before the Yule Ball. She was so disgusted at what Karkaroff had done, that she didn't' seem to care that I'd slept all over Snape. "Well, he is a teacher." She said. I rolled my eyes and told myself that I should have figured Hermione would defend education and everything involved, even if it was as greasy as Snape. "He was just protecting a student." I opened my mouth to answer, but an enormous yawn came out instead. Hermione moved from the floor to sit beside me,"You should get some sleep." I nodded. She put her arm around me, "We'll talk about it more in the morning, alright?" I smiled and stood up. I changed into my pajamas before crawling into bed. My bed was soft and comfortable but I wasn't tired. I couldn't fall asleep. I felt like I was missing something although I didn't know what it was. Like when you're about to say something and it suddenly slips from your mind. It was on the edge of my brain. Something I was needing, craving. I rolled my eyes and flung the covers off of me. After thinking of what to do, I decided to try and maybe find whatever it was that I wanted. I checked my clock. It was 5:13 AM. The kitchens were open, not that they were ever really closed, but the elves had to sleep sometime. I slipped into my slippers and left the quiet dorm. It didn't take me long to reach the kitchens. The instant I walked in, Dobby rushed to my side."Ms. Cabarette! What a surprise to see you so early this morning!" He squeaked. I smiled down at him,"Yeah, I know. I was wondering if you could get me some ice cream, please?" he bowed,

"Of course!" when he turned around, two house elves were already running towards us. A tray popped up between them with a bowl of cookies n' crème ice cream on it.

"Thank you very much!" I said happily. I kissed each of them on top of the head and scooped up the freezing, cool bowl. I turned around and allowed Dobby to hug my waist.

Before exiting the kitchens, and the castle altogether, I walked outside to see the steely gray clouds of the morning hugging close to the ground. The fog was so thick that I couldn't see the Quidditch Field. But I could see the river, so that's where I headed. I found my favorite tree on the whole grounds and sat on the damp grass underneath it. I ate my ice cream, and as I let the creamy goodness melt in my mouth, I realized this wasn't what I craved at all. Losing my appetite, I sighed and set my bowl aside. There was a cool breeze, but I was still warm. I was slightly sad I couldn't find what I had wanted. Being somewhat tired, and grouchy, wasn't helping. Smiling to myself, I took deep breath. I turned my head both ways to see if anyone was around to notice my presences. When I realized the coast was clear, I laid down in the dewy, green grass. Kind of bored and slightly delusional from sleep deprivation, I started to frail around on the grass, laughing.

"YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Several minutes later, I finally caught my breath as I continued to lay on the ground. The breeze was still cool, but it was now filled with the aroma of burnt herbs. The smell set off something like an alarm in my head and the part of me that was craving something was starting to salivate. With my senses on fire, I sat straight up as I suddenly felt every itchy blade of grass under my finger tips and the blinding morning light pierce my eyes. Goosebumps broke out all over my arms as I finally felt the chill of the morning breeze and the sound of the chirping birds in the branches above became muffled. Like someone was pressing cotton balls to my ears.

"I know that smell!" I thought aloud. My eyes darted across the grounds just in time to see Snape exiting the castle and walking towards me. For about ten seconds I was in complete shock. Snape smelled… good. That familiar, delicious scent was exactly what I'd been craving. My pounding heart was lodged in my throat as he got closer. I cursed myself as a blush crept across my cheeks. _It's not like he can read my mind and find out that I think he's delectably scented._ Finally he stopped barely feet away and spoke,

"Gaunt, what are you doing out here?" My hands fidgeted in my lap like they often did. I was staring at the ground and said,

"I couldn't sleep." I glanced up at him. He was looking out across the black lake when his mouth stretched open in a wide yawn. Then he turned back to look at the ground next to me with a puzzled look on his face. I glanced to my side to find melted ice cream all over the grass that had been dumped over in my previous seizure. "Wrong flavor," I said as I tried to suppress a giggle. He could see the humor written all over my face and raised an eyebrow in question. But I just shook my head.

I sat quiet for a minute. Then glanced over at Snape. He didn't seem to be sure if he should leave, or continue to stand there. I spread a cheesy grin across my face and looked up at Snape.

"Oh! Hey professor! Fancy meeting you here at a time like this." I jumped to my feet and bowed. "Let's have a sit and talk about life." I dropped to the ground again. Before waiting to see if he would actually sit, I reached up, gripped a handful of his robes and pulled. He must have been as tired as I was because he lost his balance almost instantly and toppled to the ground. I expected him to get up and scream at me but he just laid back on the grass and gazed up at the sky.

"So," I started, "how are the first years?" He gave me a look that told me I should have known already.

"They're idiots," he scoffed. I snorted trying to refrain my laughter. He raised an eyebrow at me and added, "They always are." I gasped,

"Excuse me? _I_ was a first years once." He smirked,

"I know." I gapped at him. Snape had… made a joke that wasn't actually meant to be cruel. At least, I don't think he was trying to insult me.

After I got my head around the seemingly impossible fact that I was just sitting with Snape and he was joking with me, I just smiled at him. It was too late to retaliate and the fact that we were getting along made me too happy to say anything back to him. He'd probably just think I was more daft than I seemed.

"Hm.. Speechless? In my presence?" He had a tone in his voice that sounded like he was rather full of himself. I snorted and he began to laugh with me. But he stopped very suddenly. As if he had just realized that he was laughing with a student. Without wasting another moment, Snape shot to his feet and straightened his robes.

"I'll see you in class, Gaunt." With that, he turned back the way he came and strode to the castle.


	7. The Weasley Slug

Before he was even out of sight, I stood and followed him inside. I went upstairs to my dormitory once again to get dressed for the day. A glance at my watch told me it was 7:32.

The other girls were still asleep. I gazed longingly at my bed as I packed my robes into my bag. I hate wearing the school robes more than anything, so I keep them packed away until I absolutely need to be wearing them, like during class.

Hermione was still asleep in her bed so I tossed my bag on top of her as I left the room.

"Wake up," I mumbled. The castle was as deserted as it had been all night, with an hour and a half left to go until classes, all the students were probably still asleep.

I slouched into the Great Hall...I was right, it was empty. Oh, except for Snape. I stopped walking and thought...lonely Gryffindor table...or...Snape? Well, he was being nice. I continued to the teachers table and pretended not to notice Snape looking at me questioningly.

I sidled along until I reached the seat next to his, which happened to be Dumbledore's. I perched myself elegantly on the very edge of seat. I nodded my head towards Snape,

"Severus." I said as I took a knife from it's place next to the plate. I very gently, I tapped the side of a glass. The little 'ding, ding. ding' noise that it made echoed as I stood up.

"Student's of Hogwarts!" I tried mimicking Dumbledore's voice as I spoke loudly to the empty hall.

"It is I, your Headmaster Dumblydore! As you all know, I have a very amazing beard." I said as I pretended to stroke a beard that went down to my thighs, "I like bubble baths and I love to stroll the castle after hours...in the nude." Snape was in the middle of drinking from a goblet, when he snorted. He spat pumpkin juice all over over the table. I glared playfully down at him,

"What are you laughing at Severus? You've joined me on several occasions."

"Don't be mad at me because I didn't join you every time. I do have papers to grade, sir."

"Are you trying to make me believe that all you do in the middle of the night is grade papers?" I looked at him suggestively.

"Ah. You've caught me. I do love to stay up, late into the night making voodoo dolls of my students." I dropped my old man act and whispered,

"Snape! Do you really?"

"No!"

"Oh...ew! Then what do you do in the middle of the night?" He looked at me with horrified disbelief,

"I sleep!" I was about to retort, but a light chuckle caught us both off guard.

I slowly turned to see Professor Dumbledore sitting at the Gryffindor table. He was smiling up at us. It took me a minute to recover from the shock, but I stood tall again and said,

"Sir...you seem a little too old to go here." To my left I heard Snape snorting, which made it all the more difficult to keep a straight face.

Dumbledore just smiled serenely at us,

"You caught me." He said, his voice gull of laughter, "Now, Miss. Gaunt, if I ask kindly. May I have my seat?" For a brief second, I thought about declining the offer, but I thought it best not to push my luck.

"Yes sir." I mumbled. I glared at Snape as he smirked at me, "I blame you." I growled playfully before I ducked under the table and crawled under it. Dumbledore made his way to his seat and I sat in the very middle of the Gryffindor table.

It was then that the next student decided to grace us with their presence. Hermione walked in through the double doors and hurried over to me.

She cast Dumbledore and Snape a weary glance,

"You should have waited for me!" She whispered, "It's always creepy being the first one in here, especially alone." I slowly turned to look at the table, Snape was listening to something that Dumbledore was saying. His eyes flicked over to me, he had dark circles under his eyes. Probably from staying up all night, most likely I had matching proof of sleep deprivation under my own eyes.

"It wasn't too bad." I said.

As we ate breakfast, more students trickled into the hall. By the time we were finished, nearly the whole school was sitting at four tables, eating their own breakfast. When Harry and Ron finally arrived, I glared at Ron the entire time he as walking towards us. When he sat down, I stood up,

"Weasley!" I barked, "Today is going to be the worst day of your miserable little life!" He cringed, but I didn't say anymore. I just stalked out of the Great Hall and hurried down to Hagrid's before double potions.

Hr was on his way up the grassy slopes to the castle when I saw him.

"Ello Cabby." He greeted as I approached him,

"Hi Hagrid!" I didn't stop to talk, "I'm just going for a slug from your garden." I ran to his hut and hopped over the fence surrounding the garden. I walked over to a muddy patch of grass. I smiled when I saw the multiple yellow and green blobs. I picked a yellow one and looked it over.

"Hmmm. I guess you'll do...who's a wittle bananana slug, huh?" On my way back to the castle I pulled out my wand and prodded at the slug in my hand. He turned a little orange, I prodded again and orange little hairs sprouted from the top of his little head. I grinned, proud of my work.

When I stepped into the castle once more, I realized that class had started already.

"Ugh!" I raced down to the dungeons and flung open the class doors. Everyone turned to look at me. I stared back at all of them, "Hello...everyone...meet, Ron Weasley!" I thrust my hand, full of slug, into the air for everyone to see. They all look at me strangely. That's when I realized that Snape wasn't in the room. I dropped the slug onto the desk that the real Rom was sitting at. I hurried to the front of the class, pulling my robes out of my bag and over my head as I went. I turned on my heel to peer at the class. I used my index finger and my thumb to mimic a nose that was larger than my own.

"I am Snape! The potion's master!" The classroom erupted with laughter, I gasped dramatically. "You dare laugh at me? I am the greatest potions master in the world! I struck a heroic pose, "Have no fear! I can...brew a potion..." I noticed Harry and Ron laughing louder then the rest of the class.

I walked over to them and tried to mimic Snape's deep and silky voice,

"You two shall be dragged by your ears to the dungeons where a drunken Filch will be waiting with a cactus and a croquette mallet." I turned to go back to the front of the class, only to be met by Snape.

The class gasped, we hadn't noticed him enter. His arms were folded across his chest and his narrowed eyes were gazing at me. For a second I thought he was going to laugh. There was something about his eyes, they weren't as cold as they usually were. With the weird night I've had, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be a weird day. But then he spoke,

"Detention, Gaunt. Now find your seat while I take role."

"Yes sir." I joined Harry, Ron and Hermione at a table.


	8. The Classroom Fight

I joined Harry, Ron and Hermione at a table,

"Aha!" I snatched my Weasley slug off of the table where I'd left him. I turned to Hermione while Snape started calling out names,

"Hello, Hermione!" I said in a deepish voice that I tried to make sound like Ron. I waved the slug in front of her as I spoke, "I'm sorry I was such a stupid boy yesterday. I was just jealous of Vicky because I lurve you." Hermione giggled into her hand, trying to be quiet so that Snape wouldn't hear. "So don't believe that _other _Ron, he doesn't know anything."

I glanced sideways at Ron, he looked like he was right ready to say something, but at that moment Snape began to lecture about how far behind we were. The only person that had been able to correctly brew the healing potion we'd been studying was Hermione. So he was giving us a second chance today, to get it right.

I set Weasely slug down on my stool and got to work immediately. I had almost got the potion right yesterday, but I didn't have enough time to finish.

When the class had almost ten minutes left to go, I was done.

"Yes! Hermione, I even beat _you_! Professor Snape! Sir!" I called across the classroom, "Can you grant me your presence for a moment?" He looked at me questioningly as he swooped over.

"Yes, Gaunt? What do you need?"

"Sir! I finished!" I said proudly, gesturing to my cauldron. He rolled his eyes,

"Be sure to put a flask of it on my des-" I shoved a bottle that I had already filled into his hands.

"Yeah, yeah. Here's your flask." I turned back to my cauldron and started cleaning. I glanced at my stool, "…Weasely?" I looked around on the ground, but my slug wasn't anywhere.

"Hermione, have you seen my slug? He was just…" I trailed off as I looked across the room. Pansy Parkinson, AKA my nemesis and sworn arch enemy, was holding Weasely up in the air. Smirking at me, she tipped her hand and dropped my little slug into her boiling potion.

"NOOOOOOO!" I screamed. I launched myself across the room and tackled her to the floor. "How dare you!" I drew my fist back and punched her in the face. "That's for Weasely!" I punched her again, "That's for me!" And again, "That's because you're ugly!"

I pulled back to hit her again when somebody grabbed me around the waist and pulled me off. "Noo!" I yelled as I kicked and squirmed, trying to get back to her. But I didn't get away, strong arms dragged me out of the classroom, into Snape's office before I was let go, "Noo!" I pounded on the door, but it was locked. "…no."

I slid to the ground and his my face in my hands as tears escaped my eyes.

"What happened?" Snape's voice was quiet. I just shook my head. A few seconds later his hand was on my shoulder, comforting, "Please, tell me."

"…sh…she boiled my Weasley slug." He was quiet and still for a moment. I felt his hand brush at my hair until it was away from my face. He turned my chin towards him.

"Look." I opened my eyes, he was holding his hand up. On his finger crawled a yellow slug, complete with orange hair and freckles and…

"Glasses?" Snape gave me a look and said defensively,

"It's the other Weasely!" I stared at both of them for a moment.

_S-snape…made me another slug? _I felt tears well up in my eyes again, but this time they were happy tears. I flung myself at him, throwing my arms around his neck.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" He straightened awkwardly and pulled away,

"Yes, well, here." I helped up my hand and allowed the slug to slither slowly from his finger to mine. I smiled up at him.

"You're kind of amazing." A light pink blush spread across his nose. I felt myself begin to blush as well, I turned to find the door and leave, but his soft voice stopped me.

"I'm still going to have to give you detention." I hissed vehemently and whipped around to face him,

"But…but…I don't want to…I…" The look he gave me told me he was not going to budge, "_Fine…_wait! I already have detention, what more can you do to me?"

"That remains to be seen. Now," He reached passed me and opened the door, "You will arrive at my office at 6:00 tonight."

"Yes sir." I walked with my head down over to where Harry, Ron and Hermione were waiting.

"Miss Parkinson, detention, 6:00."

"What? But-" She was cut off by the bell. I glanced back at Snape as the class headed outside. He was straightening the potion-filled flasks on his dead, a small secret smile on his face.

_He's so cute. _I gasped loudly in horror and looked away. _Cute? What? What? What is wrong with me?_

"Cabby!" Hermione's voice jerked me out of my thoughts.

"Hm?"

"Are you alright? You sounded like you were in pain?"

_Yeah! Mental pain…_

"Oh no. I'm fine. Just thinking how it's weird that Snape gave a Slytherin detention, you know?"

"That is weird!" Harry agreed, "I wonder what's wrong with him."

_Him? What's wrong with _me_?_

"Yeah…something, I'm sure." I mumbled.

They continued talking while I got lost in my own thoughts. I barely noticed where we were going. I didn't pay attention in Charms and Herbology just flew by. Before I knew it, we were sitting at the Gryffindor table.

6:00 was nearly upon us.

"I guess I'd better get to Snape for detention." I said, rising fromt the table sadly.

"Don't look so down, Cab, you've had detention before."

"Yeah, I know. See you guys later." I trudged down the stone steps for wha seemed to be the hundreth time that day.

_Oh god, it's going to be so weird. Who thinks their teacher is cute? Let me reprase that. Who think's _Snape _is cute?_

A voice from the back of my mind interrupted,

_**You do.**_

_Shut up!_

_**Well you do.**_

_Who asked you? _

…Silence _Yeah, that's what I thought._

_I stopped just outside his classroom door and took a few deep breaths before entering. _


	9. The Detention and a Half

Pansy was already there, sitting at a desk that was covered in dead frogs. She was gutting them. My eyes widened in horror, no way in bloody _hell_ am I cutting up frogs.

"Nice of you to join us, Gaunt." I tore my eyes from the dead amphibian massacre and looked at Snape, "If you'll sit here," He motioned to the desk in front of him, "You'll copy the sentence written on this paper 500 times." He retreated to his own desk as I walked up to the one he'd indicated.

I glanced at the sentence, it read 'I will not attack fellow students, nor will I attempt bad impressions of Professor Snape.' I rolled my eyes, that impression was spot on and he knew it.

I started the tedious job of copying lines with only a minor adjustment, 'bad' was replaced with 'amazingly awesome'.

Time passed slowly, but eventually 7:30 came and Pansy's detention was over. When she exited the classroom, Snape and I were alone. It wasn't long before I was done with the lines. I stood and stretched,

"Sir," I said dully, "I'm done. What now?" His gaze moved from the paper he was reading and settled on me.

"Sit." His eyes flicked from me to a stool nearest his desk and back to me.

"Ahh. I get it." I barely had to move the stool until it was right in front of his desk. I sat down and flashed him a cute smile, "See. I'm a good dog."

His lips twitched upwards and he quickly glanced to the papers in front of him. He handed me a stack,

"Correct these." I stared at him for a moment.

"Like...I'm doing teacher work?"

"They're simple first year papers. You were an exceptional potions maker even then. I think you can handle a stack of papers." He still wasn't looking at me. He either didn't want to acknowledge that he'd given me a compliment or he didn't realize what he'd said.

I picked up a quill and the first paper with a smile on my face.

"Just correct the steps they describe of the actual potion making. Things like grammar and spelling don't matter. Don't correct that." He didn't look up from his paper and the way he added that made me think he'd just run into a misspelled word. I froze slightly,

"How bad is it going to be?" I glanced down at the first paper on my stack. Just scanning through a few lines, I already caught mistakes.

"Just focus on the steps." He replied. Slowly and painfully, I read through all the words, I had to hold my hand back from correcting what I wasn't supposed to.

"I can't believe you can just pass these mistakes by! I mean, this person spells 'the' with and 'a'! And I've at least found 50 run on sentences! I don't remember my class being this incompetent!" I just couldn't stop ranting! There were so many errors, I forgot the original thing I was supposed to be grading. "How could you make me correct this crap?"

"Detention isn't meant to be fun." I rolled my eyes. After about five more minutes, Snape tossed his quill down and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Stop grading, Gaunt." I threw the papers away from me,

"Oh, thank you! But why? I got through ten papers! I was almost done!"

"Did you even check the steps like I told you?" He eyed me angrily. I looked down at my work, I had written things like 'Go back to kindergarten and learn to spell!' and 'Terrible! I'm physically ill from reading your writing!'

I smiled back up at Snape, "...Maybe." He sighed and took the papers in front of me.

"Just leave, Gaunt. You can finish the rest of your detention here tomorrow."

"Why not finish it now?"

"I will have another punishment for you tomorrow. Your constant whining has annoyed me." I glanced down, away from him. For some reason it upset me. Even thinking that it doesn't take much to annoy Snape, it still made me sad.

"I wasn't whining." He looked at me again, I could feel his gaze,

"Good night, Gaunt. Get to bed and don't forget to feed Montgomery." I looked at him incredulously.

"How do you know about him?" He rolled his eyes,.

"Did you actually think you could have a dragon inside the castle without anyone knowing?"

"For a few a years that's exactly what I thought, yes." He looked extremely like he was trying hard not to roll his eyes again.

"Well, you thought wrong. Now, really. Go to bed."

"Yes, fine." I sighed heavily and spun around, marching towards the door. "Wait!" I turned back to him, "What time do I have to be here tomorrow?"

"6:00."

"Okay." I paused, almost ready to leave, but I wanted to stay, "Will you tell me what I'm going to be doing?"

"No."

"Ugh...is it going to be gross?"

"We'll see."

"Ohmygosh. If you make me do something gross, I swear I'll-"

"Do it without a complaint, I'm sure."

"So um...you're really going to make me come back tomorrow for another detention, huh?"

"Yes."

"But, wh-"

"Get out!" I jumped and scrambled for the door. Before it shut behind me I sighed loudly,

"Geeze!"

I made a trip to the kitchens for a few pounds of raw meat before visiting Monti.

As always, when I entered the big chamber, he jumped on me instantly. The bag filled with his food dropped to the ground and he abandoned me to sniff at it before ripping it open.

"I see how it is. You just like me because I feed you." I wrinkled my nose at the slopping noises he made, for some reason it reminded me of the dead frogs from Snape's dungeon, "Well, I'll see you later boy. Today's been tiring and I have got to get some sleep."


	10. The Secret Potions Lesson

The next day was a blur; all I could think about was Snape and detention. How did he know about Monti? What was he going to make me do tonight? Yesterday's detention wasn't so bad. Lines, I don't think Snape's ever given such a soft punishment before. It was probably because we were being nice to each other, but before I left he seemed so irritated, he was probably going to make me do something horrible.  
"Cabby, where are you today?" Hermione whispered at me from across the table. We were at the library; lessons were over for the day. She was doing her homework and I had a book propped open against the table. I wasn't reading it; I was staring out of the open window. The day was dark and dreary and I wished I was outside,  
"Hmm?" I turned my head towards her, but my gaze remained on the soft ripples the wind made on the surface of the lake,  
"You're so out of it today, it's like you're not even here." Her voice sounded concerned, I wanted to tell her that I was fine. I knew there was something up. I don't usually dwell on things for long periods of time, but today my thoughts had consumed me and I didn't know why,

"I'm here." I finally looked at her, "I've been thinking."  
"What about?"  
_Snape._  
_**She'll be freaked out if you tell her you've been thinking about him all day.**_  
_I can't lie to her._  
_**You should.**_  
_I know._  
"Potions." _Close enough_. "I wonder how we'll be marked on those healing elixirs we did. I worked hard on mine, I wonder if it'll be enough." She believed me.  
"Oh, Cabby you're great in Potions. I know you did really well." She smiled encouragingly and I smiled back,  
"Thanks, Hermione."  
She finished the essay she was working on, although it could have been done an hour earlier if she wasn't such an overachiever. I checked out the book I had, _A Letter in Scarlet_ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  
I was surprised when I was young to find a small muggle section in the gargantuan magical library, but now it was a section I visited often. I'd almost read every single book. I'd save this book for another time when I wasn't as preoccupied.  
We met up with Harry and Ron at dinner. Hermione scolded them for not joining us in the library and finishing their homework. I glanced at the staff table while she started another lecture about leaving their work to the last minute. Snape was at his usual seat at the staff table, head down, picking at his food.  
The painfully familiar pain sparked on my left forearm, I didn't make a noise, I was getting used to it. Snape's head looked up quickly and his eyes settled on me. He felt it too, of course. I sighed and looked away, back to the dinner and my friends.  
Snape has left the Great Hall sometime between then and 6:00. I don't know exactly when, I'm not a stalker. When I got up at 6:00 to head down to the dungeons for detention, he was gone. I bid farewell to Harry, Ron and Hermione before separating from them and heading down to Snape's classroom.  
The stone corridor was empty and cold as I hurried along. As I reached the door to Snape's classroom my dark mark throbbed under the cloth bandage that was wrapped around it. I hissed in pain as I pushed the door open. Snape was at his desk and he looked up at me.  
The pain lasted a long minute and his gaze intense upon me the entire time. When it finally let up, he stood and pretended like it hadn't happened,  
"You will be helping me with more grading." Before I could cringe at the memory of the horrendous English skills of the first year's papers, he continued, "By taking down notes for me. I'll be looking over the elixir's we did in class yesterday."  
"Ooh! That sounds like fun!" I was about to rush forward when I caught sight his skeptic face. "...I mean... that sounds like a terrible idea. Do I have to?"  
Snape smiled slightly, "Yes, now come here." There was a cauldron set up on his desk and a cluster of potion-filled flasks sat next to it. I set myself up in the chair he usually occupied behind his desk. He had a stack of parchment and a quill ready for me.  
"Just write down what I tell you to." Snape picked up the first flask and tipped it's content's into the cauldron. One hand held his wand and he used that to stir around inside the large metal pot.  
I couldn't see what he was doing so I stood and stepped closer. In the cauldron, his wand wasn't touching the liquid, yet it was stirring itself as though it was.  
"What are you doing?" Snape asked. I looked up at him; he was barley a foot away from me,  
"What are you doing?" Snape raised an eyebrow at my question. "I mean, how can you tell if it's good or not?" I motioned towards the cauldron. He regarded me for a moment; I guess trying to decide whether or not I was being serious,  
"It's simple." We both turned our attention back to the potion, "Do you remember the color this was when it was in its flask?"  
"Umm...blue?"  
"Yes, Gaunt. It was blue." His voice was slightly sarcastic, "Cerulean to be precise. It's now teal. The fact that this potion has gone from cerulean to teal mean that Miss Brown added her hellebore a few minutes early."  
"How do you know that?" I whispered. Potions were one of my favorite subjects and this was a side of it I've never seen. I'm used to putting the potion together, not taking it apart.  
"It's my job to know that."  
"Oh...right." I glanced up at him. He had a strange expression, if I didn't know better I'd say that he was nervous or... anxious. But that's a ridiculous thought, Snape doesn't feel. I quickly went back to potion, a grateful distraction. "What else?"  
He picked up a large wooden spoon and scooped some of the potion up,  
"What do you notice?" He slowly poured the potion back into the cauldron,  
"It's too runny."  
"Exactly. She didn't let it simmer long enough. Probably five minutes instead of ten."  
"Does the thickness always depend on the time a potion simmers?"  
"No, not always. Not all potions require a simmer. Density can be determined by certain ingredients, how long a potion needs to sit, how much stirring it needs. Every potion is different."  
"Wow." I breathed. "What else?" I looked up at him excitedly. Whatever I saw moments ago, whether it was nervousness or anxiety, it was gone now. He looked as happy as Snape could look when a small smile made its way onto his face.  
"You really enjoy learning about this don't you?" I nodded happily.  
"Yes sir. Can we do this with all of them?"  
"If you like. As long as you do what I assigned you in the first place."

"Oh right!" I'd forgotten I had a job to do. I snatched the papers up and scribbled down the problem Snape had pointed out, "Got it."  
"Very well." He waved his wand over the cauldron, "Evanesco!" Lavender Brown's potion disappeared and Snape picked up a new flask. The consistency was like water as he poured it out, "Oh, dear." He sighed, "We're on to Longbottom's. This potion alone might take all night to decipher."  
I swallowed a laugh and looked into the cauldron as Snape started to point out the color problems.


	11. The Problematic Article

I stayed in the dark dungeon with Professor Snape for a long time. I was so immersed in the complexity of the potions that I wasn't paying attention to the time that was passing by.

A startled glance at my watch told me that it was 10:30. My detention was supposed to end at 7:00.

"Oh!" I backed away from his desk and the cauldron that now held Draco Malfoy's potion. Much to my pleasure, it had been far from perfect. "Professor, it's really late." His eyebrows knit together as he glanced at me and then at the clock on the wall.

"Indeed it is. I apologize, Gaunt, for keeping you so late. I lost track of the time." I smiled at him and shook my head.

"Don't be sorry for that. I'm just sorry that we have to stop. I've learned more from you right now than all my four years in potions."

"I doubt that." He looked away from me and started to neaten his desk, "Years of knowledge and study do not compare to a few hours. Even if it was a little advanced for a forth year. Now, hurry up to your dormitory." I sighed.

"Fine." I started to walk to the door when a thought occurred to me, "Hey, sir?" I turned back around to him.

"Why is it that you never seem to be able to simply walk out of my classroom?"

That might have made me uncomfortable or I might have gotten a little offended if I hadn't caught the small smile that was playing around his lips.

"I don't know…"

"You were saying?"

"Oh, um…" I looked down and tried to swallowed, my throat was suddenly dry. I didn't want him to get mad at me or to say no to the question I was about to ask him, "Could you maybe wait to finish grading the rest until tomorrow? When I can come and help and you can teach me a few more things?" I glanced back up at him.

For a second I thought I saw an odd glimpse of uncertainty in his eyes, but then it was gone and he said.

"You really do enjoy it, don't you?" I nodded. "That's good, not many student's do. Very well. Come here tomorrow at the same time." A wide smile broke across my face,

"Thank you sir!" I practically skipped out of the door.

Although I had gotten to bed later than the rest of the girls in my dormitory, I was the first one to be up. I took a moment to watch the sun rise and get dressed before moving to wake Hermione.

"Get up! Get up!" I jumped on her bed and shook her awake.

"Hm. Cabby?" She sat up rubbing her eyes.

"Who else?"

"Oh! Cabby!" She was wide awake once she realized it was me, "Where were you last night? We had something to tell you!"

"Oh, I was um...my detention ran late. So what happened?" Hermione reached over to her nightstand and grabbed a newspaper. She handed it to me,

"That happened."

"Hagrid? _Dumbledore's Giant Mistake_?"

Rita Skeeter had done an article on Hagrid being half giant. I read through the whole thing, feeling my face get hotter and hotter. When I finished my hands were trembling with the anger that had welled up inside of me. "I'm going to kill that four-eyed little twit." I threw the paper onto the floor and started to pace around the room, "How's Hagrid taking this?

"I don't know. He's locked himself inside his hut. He's not seeing anyone. He's not even teaching his classes. "

"We'll go and see him today."

"He won't see us."

"I don't care."

We went to visit Hagrid at break, at lunch and once lessons were over at dinnertime but he didn't let us in or answer our calls even though I was sure he could hear us through the door. I was so upset that I wasn't even hungry when we entered the castle.

"I can't eat." I told Hermione, "I'm just going to go." I left her with Harry and Ron in the Great Hall and went down to Snape's classroom early.

It was empty so I flopped down at an empty table and pulled the article about Hagrid out of my bag. I was so caught up in glaring at it and imagining possible ways to eliminate Rita Skeeter that I didn't noticed Snape enter the room.

"You're here early." I would have been startled if I wasn't in such a bad mood. I didn't say anything, but continued to sulk, "What's the matter?"

"Have you seen this?" He looked at the paper on the desk.

"Yes, I've read it."

"It's not true." I mumbled.

"Don't be delusional, of course he's a half giant. You must have known that."

"I do know that, thank you." I rolled my eyes at him, "I was talking about the part about him being mean and scary."

"It's just a newspaper article."

"Hagrid's sensitive. It's more than that to him. And to a bunch of other idiotic people who will who write to him or Dumbledore complaining. That'll make things worse...it's not fair."

"Life isn't fair." Snape said softly. I sighed and looked up at him.

"Some help you are." He raised an eyebrow.

"Did you come here looking for my help?"

"Who knows." We were both silent. I picked up the article and tore it up. "Do you mind if we start grading those elixirs earlier than 6:00?" He gave me a half smile.

"Yes. I think we can do that." He strode over to his desk and I followed him.

Snape waved his wand and the thick black cauldron from the night before came hovering sluggishly into the room. It made a loud 'clunk' as it landed on the desk, another wave of his wand brought the last of the flask's to join it. "Why don't we start with yours."

"Why? Did I do bad?" He raised an eyebrow,

"Let's see, shall we?" Snape picked up the flask filled with the prettiest, bluest potion.

"That's mine?" I whispered.

"Yes and it's the best looking one so far. This is the exact blue the potion is supposed to be."

"Awesome." I held my breathe as he poured the potion into the cauldron. We both leaned over it as he swirled his wand around inside.

"Hm." I looked at him, he had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"What?"

"You did excellent. This potion is perfectly concocted."

"I didn't cheat." I said instantly, he chuckled softly. The smile actually brightened his whole face and I finally saw the reason behind my thinking he was cute. When he smiled he actually was really cute.

_I __**so **__don't know what to make of that. _

"I know that you didn't cheat." The smile stayed on his face and for reasons I couldn't explain, I was really happy it did.

"…oh. Well, good." He still looked thoughtful and he gazed at me for a moment before saying

"Do you want to know a better way to make it?"

"If there's a better way, why'd you teach it to us that way?" He sighed.

"That way is the proper way to teach a class. I um…I find other way's to make potions. Short-cuts. Easier ways. Faster ways."

"There's a short cut to making potions?" There was excitement in my voice and I might have been afraid of sounding geeky, but I wasn't the one who meddled around with potions in my spare time to find _short-cuts._

He nodded and I said, "Show me."


	12. The Way to Hogsmeade

Some of the little potion tricks that Professor Snape showed me involved some ingredients that I didn't have, He told me that I could borrow from him the thing that I didn't have. Even thought I'd been spending a lot of time with him, I was still slightly uneasy when he did something particularly nice.

That weekend there was a trip to Hogsmeade planned. I asked him for a list of ingredients that I would be needing for future use, so that I could pick them up at the apothecary while I was I was in Hogsmeade. I also promised I'd buy all the ingredients that I'd borrowed from him, to pay him back because I didn't like being in debt to anybody.

On Saturday I woke up early, like I always do. The morning was crisp and cool and the ground was covered with snow. Hermione and I prepared for the cold day with scarves and gloves before we left our dormitory.

We met Harry and Ron down in the Great Hall at the Gryffindor house table. After breakfast, nearly all of the third and fourth years went to line up to be checked out by Filch.

The younger students weren't allowed at Hogsmeade and the older students had been there so many times already that the excitement of it had worn thin.

"I'm so glad to be going to Hogsmeade." Hermione said to me, "I've been needing to get more treats for Crookshanks."

"Me too. I need to pick up some potion stuff." I pulled from my pocket the parchment on which Snape had scribbled a list of things I would need. I read it for what seemed like the hundredth time.

_Gee, his handwriting is more girly than mine. _I smiled to myself and was about to put the paper away when Hermione surprised me by saying from over my shoulder

"Cabby, we don't even use these ingredients. What do you need them for?" I froze, I hadn't yet told my friends that I'd been having secret potion lessons with Snape. They wouldn't understand. I'd explained my absences after class by telling them I'd simply been studying potions in the library.

At first I didn't think I'd get away with it, what with Hermione spending half of her life in the library. But she didn't seem to notice anything other than her books when she was in the library.

"Oh, I just wanted to test out some of the potions that I'd been reading about."

"That should be interesting!" I sighed with relief, for a moment I was expecting her to invite herself along to one of these 'tests'.

"Yeah!" I stowed the paper safely inside my pocket.

As we began the journey through the bitter cold, I rearranged my scarf to cover the lower half of my face and pulled my cloak tighter around my body. None of us spoke, I think we all just wanted to hurry to the warmth of one of the shops in Hogsmeade as quickly as possible.

When we reached the Three Broomsticks, I told them I'd meet them when I was done visiting the apothecary. I continued past the student-friendly bar, down the snow covered street,

Around the corner stood the small, dank building with dark grimy windows. One those windows, faded with age and peeling, were golden letters that spelled out the name 'Bumble Brooke's Apothecary'. _Finally! I cant get out of this freezing weather! _

I hurried inside and was met with a huge disappointment. It was nearly as cold in here as it was outside. There was no fire that I could see and the candle's on the wall weren't placed very close together, giving the room a very creepy dim lighting.

A few feet to the right of the door was a counter where the raggedy Bumble stood separating beetle eyes from the beetles. I shivered and not from the cold. I nodded at him in acknowledgement before quickly looking away and heading toward the high shelves that were stacked of ingredients.

I took a long moment to look around at the different variety of things, there were vials and flasks and jars that held all sorts of things. A row of tiny bottles held a liquid that was thick and red, the paper propped next to it labeled it 'Vampire Blood'.

There was a giant jar finned with cockroaches and another next to it that held crocodile hearts. A little bouquet of peacock feathers, jars of rat tails, from brains, doxy eggs, and lobalug venom. I saw a small box of beazors and another partially disintegrated box of lionfish spines. There were pufferfish and lacewing flies and Snape an- _Snape?_

There he was, standing in the middle of the isle, gazing at the multitude of things on the high shelf.

_Well this is awkward… _For a moment I considered turning around and leaving, but right when I was about to, he spotted me.

Quickly I looked back to the shelves. I picked up a vial of the vampire blood and pretended to look interested.

When I put it back, I glanced back at him, he'd gone back to shelf-looking. I narrowed my eyes at him, although he couldn't see, _How rude! He's ignoring me! Tsk. Well two can play at that game._

I turned back to the shelf with a huff and picked up the closest thing to me that looked interesting. I studied it intently, it was a little bottle of exploding fluid. It was bright blue and stuck to the glass as it swirled around. I ended up deciding to buy it.

I took few more steps into the isle, when Snape saw that I wasn't putting it back, he spoke.

"That is a dangerous object." I eyed him coldly.

"I'll be careful. It says right here on the label that it's safe inside the bottle. 'No exploding'."

"If it's staying in the bottle, what are you planning on doing with it?"

"If you must know, it's going to be for decoration."

"Ah, of course you would have something explosive for a decoration."

"It's beats having something dead slimy." I retorted, referring to his bizarre assortment of bottled…things in his office.

"I'm sure. Are you here for the things on that list?" I nodded. "Ah." I nodded again. It seemed like he was about to leave, I mean who likes awkward silences? Almost without thinking I asked him,

"Would you want to help me find all the things we need?"


	13. The After Dark Ruckus

Snape paused for a moment and considered my offer before saying, "I suppose I'll have to. It'll difficult for you to find some of the items."

_Oh. He _supposes, _does he? Why does he make it sound like it's some big task and a waste of his precious time to hang out with me? Wait…hang out? I just need help, I don't want to hang out with him._

I packed that thought away for later, when I'd have time to assess it further.

"You don't have to help me, if it's a problem." I mumbled. He regarded me curiously and said,

"It isn't. Now you start at the top of the list and I'll start at the bottom." Looking at the shelves, he started moving down the isle.

"Um…don't you want to see the list?" I asked and took it from my pocket.

"I remember what was on it." And he turned around the corner.

"Well then." I shook my head and started looking.

He was right when he said that things would be difficult to find. There weren't that many label's around and I had to ask the creepy shop owner, Bumble for help. He was scary and it was a scary experience; when Snape and I were done, it was a great relief.

Turns out it was a good thing running into him after all. Not because it would have taken me a whole lot longer to track down what I needed, but because only once we were outside with our ingredients did we realize Filch would have a fit if I tried to take these into the castle myself. Most of the ingredients would cause a lot of suspicion. So he offered to take them, and when I say offered, I mean he took them from me and told me he'd take care of it.

I watched his black figure disappear in the swirls of snow. I frowned to myself as I felt a familiar feeling creep into me. I'd say I was sad, but I always got it when Snape and I parted ways. I can't be sad about that, he was a grouch and unpleasant to be around, why would I be sad to be rid of him? Sure he was wicked awesome at potions and had cool tricks to teach me and maybe sometimes I thought he was cute, but I don't actually like him.

_It's probably some lame side effect of this stupid thing. _I thought to myself and glanced down at my left arm. As if it knew I was thinking about it, the mark on my akin gave a painful twinge. I shook my head, _Damn…_thing. _Who would willingly go into service with Voldemort?_

_**Snape did. **_I rolled my eyes and sighed. _Snape had been a Death Eater. _That fact was definitely an issue in my life. I'd found out when I was really young.

July 3, 1988

School had been out for a month, Hogwarts castle and it's grounds were empty and beautiful at the end of a summers day. The sky was painted with deep oranges and reds as the sun set.

A small beautiful girl with blond hair that danced gently in the breeze was sitting cross legged under a tree that stood beside the lake. She was staring thoughtfully into the depths of the waters as if they held the answers to her questions, and she only had to look hard enough to find them.

"It's getting late." A voice like velvet cut the silence and Cabby looked up at the dark figure.

"My birthday's in ten days." She stated simply.

"Is that what you're been thinking about?"

"No." She looked back to the lake, "Birthday's though. You know the wishes you make when you blow out the candles? They don't come true."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because last year, I wished that _this_," She exposed her left arm and rubbed the image that was imprinted there, "I wished it would go away. It's still there."

"It bothers you." She nodded. "Why?"

"It makes me feel bad. Like…weird. And it makes everyone weird when they see it too." She looked up at him as if expecting him to jump and flee at the sight of the mark on her arm.

Severus Snape met her gaze before looking out across the lake. He hadn't thought she would talk to him about this. When she was smaller, Cabby could barley manage to be separated from him, but as she grew, she favored the company of Hagrid and McGonagall. And Dumbledore whenever she could manage it. That fact didn't take away his urge to make the little child stop frowning.

"I don't feel that way."

"Why not?"

"I'm used to it." She looked at him questioningly and he crouched down to her level, "You see…look." Snape pushed up the left sleeve of his robes and Cabby gasped at the sight of the identical mark on his arm.

"You…have a…we…we match. Why? What does it mean?"

I sighed and made my way to the Three Broomsticks. Harry, Ron and Hermione were rushing out of the door when I got there. "What's the hurry?"

"Rita Skeeter!" Hermione practically shrieked. They didn't slow down to fill me in, so I sped up in order to stay with them, "We spoke with her just now. Ooh, she really makes me mad."

"Where are we going?" I asked as we nearly jogged the way back to Hogwarts.

"Hermione's going to get Hagrid to come out of his hut." Ron told me.

"How?" I looked at her, "He won't even answer the door."

"That won't stop her," Ron whispered so only I could hear, "Way she's going she'll break it down and drag him out." We snickered quietly and followed Hermione to Hagrid's.

Dumbledore was in the hut when we got there and with his help, we all got Hagrid to cheer up and come back to teach his lessons. Later that night I sat awake in the girls dormitory. Everyone else was asleep, which wasn't surprising since it was past midnight, but I couldn't. The twinge of pain in my Dark Mark earlier had only been the beginning, as the day drew to an end, the pain increased and now it was keeping me from being able to sleep.

When I felt tears prick at my eyes, I knew I had to do something about it. I untangled myself from the sheets of my bed and quietly left the dorm and exited the common room. It was dark and eerie on my way to the dungeons, I was surprised at my luck when I didn't meet any teachers keeping watch in the halls.

It was even darker in the dungeons, but I knew the way to where I was going so it didn't make much difference. There were three doors in this hall, one to Snape's classroom, one to his office and one to the room he lived in. The last one is the door I wanted, but once I saw it I stopped.

_Oh, how weird. It'd be awkward enough going into his room, but in the middle of the night? Double awkward. _I pondered it for a minute more, but before I could make up my mind I heard a loud sound from inside Snape's office. _Good, he's in there. That's not so bad. _

I opened the door quietly, he was standing at the cupboard that held his private potion ingredients. He looked slightly alarmed until he recognized me,

"Gaunt!" Snape whispered harshly, "What are you doing?" He strode to the door, poked his head out of it to scan the corridor then shut it.

"…are you all right?"

"Yes. Someone broke into my office, but- what are you doing here?"

"Oh. I…um…" Unconsciously I grabbed my left arm, still painfully throbbing. Snape saw the movement and nodded.

"Yes. It kept me awake too."

"Can you-" My question was cut off by a loud annoying screeching noise. _Oh no! _It was the noise the champion's eggs' made. Harry was going to do that bath thing tonight.

Snape and I only glanced at each other for a second before running out of the door and towards the sound. It was soon quieted, but we still figured where it had come from and soon enough, we ran into Filch who was holding the offending egg in his hands.

"Filch? What's going on?" Snape demanded the moment we stopped

"It's Peeves Professor. He threw this egg down the stairs." Thank goodness! I thought, Please go with that!

"Peeves?"

Snape didn't believe for one second that Peeves had done it.


	14. The Trip in the Library

The next day I slept in late for the first time in a long time. When I woke up, the dorm was empty, proof of just how late it was.

It took me a minute to figure out why I was so tired and why I did sleep in. Then my dark mark, which hadn't stopped hurting since the day before, gave a particularly painful throb, it all came back to me.

Last night. I was in pain. I went to Snape. We heard an egg.

Snape had right away assumed that Harry was up to mischief and only backed off once Moody had showed up and shooed all of us away. He took his anger of not getting Harry in trouble out on me, giving me a hissy lecture about my friends and how Harry was annoying and stuff like that. I didn't really pay attention. I decided to go and find Harry, to see how things had went for him.

The common room was empty except for a few sixth and seventh years. I wandered down to the Great Hall, unconsciously cradling my left arm as it continued to sting. There I found Ron and Hermione having lunch, yes I'd slept that late.

"Finally!" Ron exclaimed, "Sleeping beauty joins us."

"Oh, be quiet." I mumbled, a grin on my face, "Where's the other one?"

"Harry? He's in the library." Hermione told me, "He figured out what the egg means. He's got to go in the lake for the next task. We've been in the library all morning trying to find out how to survive under water."

"Thanks." I said and took a peanut butter sandwich from Ron's plate, "I'll be up there with him when you guys are done."

"Hey, that's my sand-" Ron cut himself off when I threw him a withering glare.

"What was that you were saying?" I asked menacingly. My serious tone was betrayed when a smile broke across my face.

"Oh, um. I got you this sandwich!" He laughed.

"Why, thank you Ronald! How kind of you." I laughed with him, "See you."

Harry was surrounded by a stack of thick books when I found him in the library.

"Hey! Find anything about trying to be a fish?" He didn't look up from the open book in front of him when he answered dully.

"No."

"Oh… want me to look as well?" Harry slowly turned a page of the book and read for a bit longer before saying in a voice that was just as mundane,

"No, not really. Ron and Hermione were helping me earlier."

"And that's relevant how? What's the matter?"

"Last night."

"What, you didn't get any? I snickered, but he gave me a very serious look.

"I saw you with Snape."

"Oh! Don't worry, he didn't get any either." I could help it. I burst into a fit of giggles. I thought making a joke might get me a smile out of Harry, but he just looked even angrier. "Harry, I'm being serious now." And for a second, I thought I was. Then I looked straight into his eyes and for some reason, it made things funnier. I couldn't keep a straight face as I asked him again, "What's the matter?"

"It was the middle of the night. We don't even like being around him during the day." That sentence wiped all trace of humor from my face. Snape and I had come from the dungeon area and we were in our pajamas. I suppose the fact that we had run to the scene and were out of breath didn't make things look any better. Eww. What was Harry _thinking_?

"Well last night…something came up." I answered calmly, "I needed to see a teacher."

"Since when is Snape at the top of the emergency teacher list?"

"I never said he was the first teacher I went to." The lie came out of my mouth like it was actually the truth, "McGonagall was the first one I tried to find. And I don't know where any of the other teacher's live." I made a point of looking very sad and dejected, like being with Snape was actually as horrible as Harry thought. He still looked slightly suspicious, but his anger faded a little.

"Oh. So what happened last night?"

"Well," I started slowly, my mind was racing. Trying to think of some excuse, any excuse to give him. I glanced around and leaned in close to him, "Don't tell anyone. But…well I was kind of trying some advanced spells and one of the transfiguration ones went…bad." His eyes widened a little, he was instantly hooked on this story. Inside I breathed a sigh of relief. "I um…was trying to give myself wings."

"What?" He gasped, "Why would you want to do a spell like that?"

"To say that I could." I said as if the answer was obvious. He considered me for a moment before nodding in agreement and urging me to continue, "Well…it didn't turn out like I'd…expected. I kind of turned my arm into a tentacle." Harry's eyes widened slightly and he began to laugh.

"Like the giant squid?" He could barley stop his laughing to form the words that he spoke, "Oh! You should mess up the spell on me and maybe I can handle this next task!" I glared evilly at him while doubled over, trying to silence himself so as not to attract Madame Pince.

"Be quiet!" I hissed vehemently, "It's isn't funny, it hurt and it was embarrassing having to run for help in the middle of the night!" I know it didn't _actually _happen, but Harry thought it did, and he was laughing at me. A strange dark feeling rose from the base of my spine as I watched his body shake with another bout of laughter. I felt anger swarm around my body like a cocoon and when it reached my arm, the pain burned more than ever. I stood suddenly, "Keep it up Potter." I spat, "I'm not going to help you now." I stormed away from him before he could say anything.

As I moved towards the library exit, the dark feelings wrapped my mind in haze and I didn't pay attention to where I was going. I ran into someone. The shock unbalanced me and I tripped to the floor.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, "I'm so sor-" I cut myself off abruptly when I saw who it was. Snape, "Oh. Hi." He raised a sardonic eyebrow and gazed down his nose at me on the floor. I scrambled to my feet and straightened myself, trying to seem unflustered. Seeing him had shoved the vicious thoughts and feelings from me, but I was confused about why I had them in the first place. I was also unnerved by the fact that Snape made me feel better and nervous at the same time.

"Have a nice trip?" He asked quietly, his voice was as cold as always, but the laughter that had appeared in his eyes made me grin.

"Yes, it was grand. Maybe next time you'll join me." I said it lightly, but he read the playful threat that my words hid. Snape stepped closer.

"You just try and trip me and see what happens." This time he actually smiled back at me, but it faded quickly. The pain in my arm spiked that moment and it made me remember that he was going through this pain too. Just as I was going to say something, he spoke again, "I'm in here to find you actually. Professor Dumbledore wants to speak with you."


	15. The Chat With Dumbledore

For the first time that day, I forgot all about the pain in my arm. I studied Snape's face suspiciously as if it would tell me answers; it didn't.

"What about, does he want to talk?" I asked nervously. Snape seemed to notice my sudden shiftiness because he said gently,

"Nothing bad, so don't worry. It's just…" He trailed off and glanced around; he gaze paused on something before he said, "Let's just go." I nodded and looked over to where he had, Professor Moody was near us, browsing the selves.

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and followed Snape out of the library. We were both silent on the walk from the fourth floor to the seventh, but my mind was whirling with thoughts; what could Dumbledore possibly want with me? Maybe Snape told him I was out of bed last night…but he'd said it wasn't anything bad.

"Cockroach Cluster." Snape speaking the password to Dumbledore's office shook me from my thoughts.

"Those are nasty." I remarked before I could think twice. I glanced at him in time to see his lips tug up into a small smile.

"Yes." he agreed. We stepped forward together as the stone gargoyle moved to allow our entrance. After a few seconds on the ascending stairs, we stood in front of a large door. Snape knocked twice before opening the door and motioning for me to go inside.

"You're coming with me aren't you?" I tried to sound like I didn't care whether or not he did. It's not like a was afraid of Dumbledore, he was just incredibly intimidating and Snape's presence was something I was used to and, for some reason, it was oddly comforting to me. Snape rolled his eyes, but a hint of that smile was still there,

"Yes, I'm coming with you."

"Okay." I whispered. _It's stupid to be afraid. Dumbledore is a sweet old man. But he's so…intimidating. Yes, but nothing to be scared of._

I stepped through the door and into the office. Snape followed inside after me and pointed towards a chair in front of the big desk. Dumbledore was sitting behind it, but I didn't look at him, I still felt like I was in trouble.

"Why so glum, Cabby?" Dumbledore asked as I sat down.

"I'm just confused as to what brought on this little…chat."

"Well, now that is a reason to be upset." He sounded sort of sad. I stared at him,

"What? What's upsetting about it?"

"He knows about the Dark Mark." Snape said from beside me. He'd sat down in the other chair that was in front of the desk.

"So it's serious? The pain, it actually means something?" I asked, looking back and forth between them for answers.

"I never believed that Lord Voldemort was gone." Dumbledore said, "I knew he would come back one day. This is proof. He is gaining strength and he will return."

A heavy silence hung in the air, the shock of Dumbeldore's words made it impossible to speak at the moment. He continued, "And when he does, Professor Snape will be going back into service him with, as a spy for our side, of course."

Both of them seemed to be waiting for my reaction. I was still silent, I felt that there was a lot more that I was going to be learning from this talk. When I did nothing, Snape spoke, "Headmaster-" Dumbledore cut him off.

"Severus, she has the right to know."

…_I have the right to know? Did that mean Snape wanted to keep this from me? Whatever…this was._

I looked at Snape, his body was tense, he seemed worried and a little nervous.

"Why shouldn't I know?" He'd been staring intensely at Dumbledore, but when I spoke, he looked at me.

"It's dangerous." He said tersely. I scoffed.

"The fact that I am who I am is dangerous. But um…" I glanced back to Dumbledore, time to find out why I was here, "What does this have to do with me?" He gazed at me for a long moment with his piercing blue eyes. It felt like he was looking directly at my soul.

"Voldemort left you in Professor Snape's care. It would be most suspicious if he returned to him without you." I froze again.

"Me go and…see him? But, that…that's not a good idea. That's crazy, h-he'll kill me!" I don't know when it happened, but I became aware that Snape had stood and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. When I was finished speaking he spoke, his voice was tight.

"He won't kill you, because I won't allow you to go."

"That's not your choice to make, Severus." Professor Dumbledore said gravely. I looked up at Snape, he face was composed as always, but his eyes betrayed his emotion, he was worried.

…_about me. He's trying to keep me away from Voldemort, to protect me. But…that'll just end bad for him. It's he's brave enough to protect me, then I should be brave enough to protect him._

I cleared my throat, "We'll just have to see whether he will or not, because I'm going with you." I avoided Snape's stare and placed my hand on top his that was still on my shoulder. Hid grip tightened slightly on my shoulder before it slipped away and he sat back down.

"We do not think doing this will put you in any danger, Cabby." Dumbledore said, he seemed satisfied with my choice, "Voldemort had you for a reason, we'll just have to see what it is."

Dumbledore spoke for a little longer, I heard the words, but I didn't process any their meaning. A few minutes later, Snape and I left. We walked together in silence through the corridors, I ignored the people who stared at the sight of us together. They'd have to get used to seeing us, if Snape and I were about to dive into secret double life, the only people we won't have to lie to is each other - and Dumbledore- and I hate not being honest with my friends. I'd probably be spending a lot more time with the man beside me when we got involved with Voldemort.


	16. The Memory of Hermione

I sat alone at the end of the bleachers that had been erected near the lake. My fellow students were crowded around, all talking loudly about what was soon to take place, the second task. I stared at the soft ripples on the water's surface and thought about last night again.

After talking with Dumbledore and a few hours of thinking, I'd decided I wanted to tell Hermione about what happened. She already knew who my father was, it was proof of exactly how smart she was that she figured it out.

_**June 4 1995**_

_Cabby sat alone in the Hogwarts library on a bright sunny Saturday afternoon. There was a book propped open in front of her, it was humorous, one she usually enjoyed. But today she couldn't find it funny at all. _

_She'd been looking forward to finally starting her first year at Hogwarts as an actual student, to make friends her own age and learn all the magic she could._

_Cabby's dreams were crushed when, three weeks into the semester, she'd made no bonds of friendship like she had hoped. People seemed to notice that she was different ; she was a little smarter than all the other first years, growing up in a school can do that. She didn't bring up her past or family and hastily avoided the subject when it was being discussed. It was also thought a little strange that she was on such good terms with all the staff._

_It had to be that way though, Dumbledore had told her no one was to know about her father, or that she lived at the castle, he had basically ordered her to pretend to be a normal eleven year old girl who was here for the first time._

_Cabby found it hard to be something that she wasn't and she was quickly falling into a pattern of daily brooding that was making her pull into a shell of confinement and detachedness-_

"_Cabby?" When a female voice broke the musty silence of the library, Cabby nearly jumped out of her skin. She jerked around to see Hermione, another first year girl. They shared a dormitory in the Gryffindor common room and from the few times Cabby had spoken to her, she seemed nice._

"_Oh!" Cabby gasped breathlessly, putting a hand over her fluttering heart, "You nearly gave me a heart attack." Hermione stifled a few giggles and apologized,_

"_Sorry, I just wanted to talk to you." Cabby froze, a fellow student, looking for conversation with her? Maybe they'd become friends and she wouldn't have to live a life of solitude after all! "I hope I'm not bringing up a sore subject, but why don't you ever talk about your family?" Cabby tried to maintain a façade of mild interest, while inside, the flicker of hope for companionship died out painfully. She swallowed painfully,_

"_Oh, um well, I just don't like to talk about…family." Hermione was anxious, she had a theory about Cabby, but it wasn't the kind you could just blurt out. She took a seat opposite Cabby and regarded her with wide eyes, doing some quick thinking. Hermione decided it was now or never._

"_I don't mean to sound…odd, but in the first of classes, I noticed that you're on of the smartest students in our year. Smarter than me. So I just…paid attention to you, in classes." Cabby did not know what to think, so she said the first thing that came to her mind,_

"_Did you find anything interesting?" She meant it as a joke, but Hermione responded seriously,_

"_Yes. You live here-permanently. I don't know how long you've been here, but I'm certain it's been at least since this past year. That explains you're extended knowledge. Also your high comfort level and friendliness with all the professors."_

_Shock was evident on Cabby's face. Now she really didn't know what to think. She tried to come up with some statement of denial, but she was caught off guard by how much Hermione knew. Her long hesitant silence said a lot. Hermione nodded. "It is true." After another second, Cabby found her voice,_

"_Sort of…is there more?" Cabby secretly hoped Hermione had figured everything about her. She felt immense relief at the thought of having someone she didn't have to hide from._

"…_yes." Hermione suddenly became hesitant, Cabby did nothing, but wait expectantly, "Your arm." Cabby's hands that were pressed against the tabletop, tensed. Hermione motioned to the left one. The one with a bandage secured tightly around the forearm. "It's not a cast. I've seen that your entire arm is fully functional. It's hiding something… I read this book, about dark wizards that have rose up to power in out history. The most recent is a terrible man named Voldemort. Well he had followers who were all branded with his mark. On the left forearm. That's what I think it's hiding." Hermione stopped to catch her breathe. She still looked at Cabby with wide eyes. When Cabby continued to sit and do nothing but look at her, she hastily added, "I'm not implying that you're evil, or a follower of his. The book also explained few things that Voldemort was trying to accomplish. One of them was to have children, to help him take over and eventually govern the world. It was rumored that he actually succeeded. I think that it's you." _

_Cabby had gazed unseeingly at the table's polished wooden surface while she listened to Hermione's story. She smiled slightly as she glanced up, "I think you just proved that I'm actually not smarter than you."_

"_So it's true?"_

"_What makes you think that I'm not just a daughter of one of these followers?"_

"_Voldemort wouldn't mark a child as one of his own. It wouldn't be strong enough or useful enough to impress him. But he would mark his own actual children."_

"_You sound like you know him."_

"_The book was pretty specific."_

_Cabby was suddenly nervous, "You won't…tell anyone, will you?"_

"_Of course now! If you're here, that must mean you're nothing like him, so there's nothing wrong with you being here." _

_Hermione smiled happily and Cabby couldn't help but mirror her expression. Finally, a friend._

Ever since then me and Hermione have been practically inseparable, and I've always made sure to tell her everything. But not being able to find her last night gave me more time to think about it. I decided not to tell her, it would made things worse for both of us, put us both in unnecessary danger. I'd have to keep things like this to myself from now on.

"Cabby?" The sudden interruption of my thoughts reminded me of that day, three years ago. I half expected it to be Hermione, though it sounded nothing like her. I turned to face the voice- it was Snape. His eyes were squinted against the sun as it shone bright on his pale skin, it was a stark contrast to his black robes that billowed in the wind.

"Oh, hi."

"You can still change your mind." Oh dear brother, I thought. In many more words, he'd said the same thing to me last night.

"Why don't you want me to go?"

"Because it would really be a horrible bother having you around." He gave me a bored look, like I should have known the answer.

"Liar." I mumbled. His lips twitched, almost forming the smile that I liked to see on him.

"Mind some company? I doubt any of your…_friends _will make an appearance until the end."

"Why, did you lock them up or something?" Snape rolled his eyes and sat near me.

"If that were allowed, it would have happened a long time ago. Granger and Weasley are part of the task."

"What are they doing?"

"Just watch."


	17. The Second Task

I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time. The bright sun was blazing down upon the student audience as we all waited for something to happen.

After Harry was nearly late for the second task to being, everyone was in a state of excitement for the first five minutes. Twenty minutes had passed and nothing had happened yet. I sighed again, Snape turned to look at me,

"Is something the matter?" He inquired.

"This is sooo boring." I said flatly.

"They make it that way. Everyone is restless now and then at the end is all the exciting stuff."

"What happens?" I asked, curious as to what the answer was. He shot me a sidelong glance before smirking,

"The champions come out of the water." My eyes narrowed as I glared at him.

"That's not exciting."

"No."

"That wasn't funny." I mumbled, flopping forward, resting my elbows on my knees and my chin in my hands. "I actually thought something cool was going to happen."

"I know." Snape's voice was underlined with amusement.

"Fool." I scoffed. "Your childish antic's are not appreciated."

"I thought you were bored." He mocked.

"Only because I'm talking to you." I said sarcastically.

"Ow, how I'll _ever _recover from that insult?"

"How about slowly and painfully." I suggested, a smile tugging at my lips.

"I don't think so. You'd enjoy it too much." I rolled my head to the side, to look at him.

"And how do you know that?" _Woah. Why didn't I think about that before I actually said it out loud? How awkward…, _"I mean, of course you know that. Because it's true. Really, stop laughing!" The whole time I was speaking, the smirk on his face grew, and now he was chuckling softly. "Fool." I mumbled once more.

"Look." I glanced at him but he was pointing towards the lake. I looked in time to see two teachers dive into the lake.

"Where're they going?"

"Somebody must have run into trouble that was too much for them." The whole crowd watched the waters intently and within a few minutes the teachers immerged with a battered looking Fleur.

"Oh, thank gosh! I thought it might've been Harry!"

"With that gillyweed Potter stole, I'm sure he'll be fine." I swirled around to face him,

"What?"

"You saw him before he dove into the water, how he changed. That was gillyweed and fourth years have no need for that. When I go and check my private store cupboard's, I'll be missing some." I didn't respond, how could I? I didn't know if it was true or not. Deciding to skip over that topic, I moved on to a different one, a worse one.

"When…when do you think Voldemort's coming back?" My hands fidgeted in my lap, he was silent. It stretched for a long moment before he spoke,

"Soon."

"What do you think he's going to do with me?" I asked quietly.

"He kept a lot of his plans to himself, the reason for you was among them. He never explained…you." I nodded slowly. We were quiet after that, it was only five minutes later that Cedric Digory's head broke the surface of the rippling water. Cho Chang surfaced beside him. The crowd cheered.

"What? When did she get down ther- ooohhhhh!" I glared at Snape, "You couldn't of just told me that that's where Ron and Hermione were?" His face was sober once again and I silently lamented the lost of his handsome smile.

"Where's the fun in that?"

"Exactly! There isn't any."

"Do you _enjoy _being difficult?"

"Hmm…well now, that'd have to be a yes. Do _you _enjoy being difficult?"

"I'm just being myself."

"I think you should see a therapist." He laughed, the loudest noise I'd heard Snape make, when he wasn't yelling. I looked at him. The laughter made a spark light up in his eyes and the smile was back, wider than ever. The sun made his pale skin glow and he looked-

_Cute?_

_**I was going to say…normal. **_

_And cute._

…_**yeah, that.**_

Snape's voice, quiet steady despite his moment of humor, brought me back to out conversation.

"We go to this therapist together, he could fix both of us." I gaped at him in mock offense,

"Excuse me? There is nothing wrong with me, but thanks." I had a feeling he was going to say something else, but just then the crowd started roaring again. Victor Krum appeared in the water with Hermione.

"Looks like Potter's last." Snape said joyfully, well, his cold Snape version of joy, "Or maybe he's been killed…" I looked at him disapprovingly,

"Why do you hate him so much?" In the span of a second, his face darkened to an expression of hatred.

"That story is for another time."

"So you do hate him? And there's a whole story?"

"Let's discuss something else."

"Let's not." I turned myself on the bench to face him and stared intently. Snape rolled his eyes.

"Are you always so nosy?"

"Don't change the subject."

"Really, it's none of your business." I sighed heavily and pouted,

"Will you tell me eventually? Not today…but sometime within my lifetime?"

"Perhaps."

"Whoo! Coming from you, that's basically a yes!" The crowd around us started cheering and yelling once more, I looked towards the lake, Harry and Ron- and a little girl- were swimming towards the shore.

"Oh, he's alive!" I said exaggeratedly happy, then I turned back to Snape and grumbled, "You must be so disappointed."

We watched as the judges consulted, at one point Dumbledore crouched near the water and spoke to one of the mermaids that had had the 'hostages' tied up. After a while, Ludo Bagman's magnified voice boomed loudly for everyone to hear,

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of he lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each champions, as follows…" He went through the points for Fleur, Cedric, Viktor and finally, Harry. It turns out Harry had used gillyweed, I wondered if Snape knew about every magical plant, ingredient-thing there was to know. With the points he received, he ended up being tied with Cedric for first place.

It wasn't long after that that everyone got up to go back to the castle, I looked at Snape. I meant it to be a parting glace, but he looked at me too and spoke,

"I told you Potter used gillyweed." I laughed and rolled my eyes,

"Oh go take inventory in your _private store cupboards._"


	18. The Skipped Lesson

March approached, it was a windy Friday morning when a ruffled gray owl landed in front of Harry. He extracted the letter carefully and sent the bird off.

"It's from Sirius!" He whispered excitedly as he ripped it open. The four of us put our heads together as he read it aloud,

"Be at stile at end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Bangs) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can."

"He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" Ron asked.

"Looks like it, doesn't it." Hermione answered.

"I can't believe him." Harry said tensely, "If he gets caught…"

"Well he won't." I said matter-of-factly, looking at the three of them, "He's brilliant, isn't he? Been in hiding all this time. He's not daft enough to come here if he didn't have a good plan to stay hidden."

"She's right." Hermione said, smiling at Harry.

We all went back to our breakfast, Harry looking more cheerful. I the piece of toast in my hands and started to pile more onto a napkin. I added a few sausages to the pile and was reaching for the bacon when I noticed the others looking at me. I paused and glanced around at them,

"What?" I asked defensively, "I'm hungry...and I've got to run to the library before class." I finished piling bacon onto m napkin, stuffed another toast into my mouth before grabbing my bag, nodding to them in farewell and rushing off. Up two flights of stairs, through a depressing girls bathroom and long dark tunnel, and I was greeting Monti happily.

"Baby!" He walked over to me and nuzzled my hands; I ran my hands along his scaly, smooth back, "Monti?"I could sense that something was wrong; he wasn't going directly to the food. It must be serious. I dropped my bag and knelt beside him, taking his head in my hands. I studied his face. His half lidded eyes, his droopy ears he looked...scrawny. I opened his mouth and pulled on his tongue, it was too pale a pink.

"Is my baby sick?" I whispered worriedly, he'd never been sick before. I pulled him onto my lap the best I could and rubbed soothing circles on his back. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out the now greasy napkin that held the food. "Here boy." I waved a piece of bacon in front of his nose. He inclined his head slightly, gave it a pathetic sniff or two before lying back down. I dropped the bread as a bubble of worried anxiety swelled inside of me. I tossed a blanket over him and hugged him close, "Boy, you have to eat." I picked a sausage from the assortment I'd brought and held this up to his mouth. He whined and looked at me sadly, "Monti..." I caressed his, "Baby, I don't know what to do..." Monti's head dropped to my lap once more.

I stroked Monti as I thought about what to do, a glance at my watch told me that my first class had already started. Potions.

Oh well, I'll come up with an excuse to tell Snape...Snape! He could help me! I decided then, to go to him after the class period was over and seek help.

Half an hour later, I was fighting my way through the crowd of students that were rushing up from the dungeons. I was in such a hurry that I didn't even notice Ron and Hermione amongst the others until Hermione tapped my shoulder,

"Oh, hello!" I smiled at them, it was strained but they didn't seem to notice, the pair of them looked distressed as well, "Whets the matter?"

"Snape." Ron spat, "What else would be the matter after double potions?"

"And where were you, Cabby?" Hermione asked, disapprovingly.

"I got caught up in the library." I explained casually, "Not that missing Snape's class is a bad thing." I shared a smirk with Ron as Hermione rolled her eyes, "What? It's true; you two seem all worked up. What happened?" Ron scowled and motioned for Hermione to tell me the story.

"Have a look at this first." Hermione pressed a magazine into my hands.

"_Witch Weekly_? Hermione, you know I'm not really into this sort of thi-"

"Yes, I know. But there's a story in there about Harry and I."

"Harry and...you?" She nodded and flipped through the pages until she found the right spot,

"Read that."

"Harry Potter's Secret Heartache? Wow Hermione, why didn't you tell us you and Harry had a thing? Well, before you left him for Viktor, of course." I giggled and scanned the article, "This is a load of rubbish. What's so upsetting?" I looked back up at them.

Hermione flushed, "Pansy tossed me that before class, Snape found it and read it out loud for everyone to hear! Then he took points away, separated us and...it was awful."

I frowned, "Maybe he's in a bad mood."

"Is he ever _not_ in a bad mood?" said Ron. I shrugged and gave him a look that said frankly 'I don't know'.

"Well this is just brilliant. I've got to go and see him now…tell him about why I missed class." Their expressions turned sympathetic. I chuckled, "It's only Snape. Don't worry, I can handle him."

After saying goodbye to them once more, I continued down the stone steps until I burst through Snape's classroom door. Snape, forever sitting at his desk, hardly looked up from the papers in front of him at my loud entrance. I stalked over to him and stood rigidly beside his desk.

Deliberately slowly, like he could feel the anger simmering inside of me, he looked up at me,

"May I help you Miss Gaunt?" I glared back at him and planted my hands onto my hips,

"Is that really what you have to say to me?" My voice was shrill, but I couldn't help it, I had a lot to say, "You attacked my friends, and what? You don't care that I missed class today? Well I'm bloody glad that I did skip it, Hermione told me that Karkaroff was lurking the last half of class…" I stopped there as harsh memories of that night invaded my mind. I clutched my head in my hands and felt my body sway.

Then Snape was standing next to me, a steadying hand on my shoulder. I jerked away, but reached out for him at the same time. I blinked away tears as I looked up into his eyes. I knew then, that he could see inside of me. Into my heart, my soul, my mind. He saw it, the truth, the real truth of my disarray. He knew, but I spoke anyway,

"Monti's sick."


End file.
